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Blake Cahill

About Blake Cahill

User generated content (UGC) isn’t a new concept, yet marketers around the world are only just starting to realize its potential in creating online buzz and engaging customers.

Predominantly spread through social media, UGC is any type of content created and shared by a brand’s audience. Whether through videos, tweets, Instagram stories or blogs – UGC spotlights a brand, product or service on a user’s own channel, rather than the company’s social presence.

With up to two billion active users it’s clear that platforms like Facebook and WhatsApp simply cannot be ignored when it comes to doing business in the 21st century.

With access to such a vast customer base it’s hardly surprising that businesses have gravitated to social media to cultivate their online persona. Increased brand awareness has been the result, but it’s less clear, perhaps, how this has translated into tangible benefits to businesses’ bottom lines.

Brands continued to associate with famous or authoritative individuals in 2017, with the Instagram influencer marketing industry alone being worth $1billion.

It’s perhaps unsurprising then that this way of advertising is set to retain its popularity amongst brands for years to come; especially considering 71% of consumers are more likely to make a purchase based on a social media reference from an influencer.

In 2015 Mark Zuckerberg moved the Facebook Messenger app out of the original Facebook app, taking the bet that billions would use Messenger for much more than just chatting with friends and sharing GIFs.

He believed that they would come to use the app as a means of interacting with businesses to raise questions about products they’d purchased or intended to purchase, for instance.

It’s not quite over yet, but 2016 has been busy. As I predicted last year, mobile has been a definite focus for almost every marketer and we’re slowly starting to see VR and wearable technology take off.

I’ve found it interesting to see how businesses have started to scope out new and creative ways to incorporate all of these technologies and opportunities into their marketing strategies.